A History of England, Period I. Mediæval MonarchyBright, J. Franck (James Franck)
History
A History of England, Period I. Mediæval Monarchy
Bright, J. Franck (James Franck)
Great Britain -- History
with the insurgents, William the Lion of Scotland was engaged to
take part with them, and the great Earls of the middle and north of
England, Leicester, Ferrars of Derby, Chester, and Bigod, joined in
the general alliance. Henry, though alarmed, did not despair. His
policy had led him to trust much to his auxiliaries, and with these
he determined to withstand the feudal malcontents. Leaving his
generals to resist the attack from Flanders and France, he won a
great battle before Dol in Brittany, took the great Earl of Chester
prisoner, and re-established his power in that province. Meanwhile,
Leicester had been besieged by Lucy, his justiciary in England;
the efforts of William the Lion, who demanded Northumberland and
refused homage for Huntingdon, were thwarted by the brave defence
of the border castles; and an invasion of Flemings from the East,
headed by the Earl of Leicester, was defeated at Farnham, near
Bury St. Edmunds. But the existing truce with France terminated
at Easter; the king of that country was able to enter actively
into the war; and Henry’s successes, and the large offers he made
his sons, seemed alike unavailing. Hostilities began again, and
Henry was obliged to take the command in person in his hereditary
provinces, Maine and Anjou, where he was received with enthusiasm.
The troops of his son Richard were conquered; while in England the
King’s natural son, Geoffrey Plantagenet, and Richard de Lucy,
made head against the nobles in the East and a fresh invasion from
Scotland; but were still so pressed, that messengers were sent in
haste to summon Henry across the Channel. It was indeed a moment
of great danger. Philip of Flanders and his allies, to whom Kent
had been promised, were assembling a fleet at Whitsand; the Scotch
invaders had reached Alnwick. Henry hastened home. But before he
proceeded to active measures, in deference to the popular feeling,
which attributed his difficulties to the Divine anger at Becket’s
death, he made a pilgrimage and did penance at the shrine of the
martyr. Immediately after this while still in anxious doubt as
to the fate of his kingdom, news was brought him that Ranulf de
Glanvill had surprised the Scotch at Alnwick, and that William
the Lion and many of his nobility were prisoners. A few days
afterwards the town of Huntingdon was taken, and Hugh, the Bishop
of Durham, who had joined the insurgents, conquered. By July all
the English nobles had returned to their allegiance, and Prince
David had withdrawn the Scotch troops. The same rapidity which
saved England saved Normandy also. The sudden arrival of the King
before Rouen raised the siege of that place, which had been hard
pressed, and before long a peace between Henry and Louis was made,
by which all the French conquests were restored, and the young King
Henry’s dependants had to abjure the fealty which they had taken
to him. The great insurrection which for a moment had threatened
the existence of Henry’s monarchy was thus over.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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