15. =The Statute of Kilkenny. 1367.=--As long as the French wars lasted the attention of the English Government was diverted from Ireland. In =1361=, however, the year after the Treaty of Bretigni, the king's son, Lionel Duke of Clarence, was sent to extend English rule. In =1367= he gathered a Parliament of the English colonists. This Parliament passed the Statute of Kilkenny, by which the relations between the two races were defined. Within the Pale English laws and customs were to prevail, and even Irishmen living there were to be debarred from the use of their own language. Beyond the Pale the Irish were to be left to themselves, communication between the two peoples being cut off as much as possible. The idea of conquering Ireland was abandoned, and the idea of maintaining a colony on a definite part of Irish soil was substituted for it. The Statute of Kilkenny was, in short, a counterpart of the Treaty of Bretigni. In both cases Edward III. preferred the full maintenance of his authority over a part of a country to its assertion over the whole. 16. =Weakness of the English Colony. 1367--1377.=--It takes two to make a bargain, and the Irish were not to be prevented from encroaching on the English because the English had resolved no longer to encroach upon them. The renewal of the war with France in =1369= made it impossible to send help from England, and during the latter part of the reign of Edward III. the Irish pillaged freely within the English territory, constantly winning ground from their antagonists. _Genealogy of the more important Sons of Edward III._ EDWARD III. d. 1377 | -------------------------------------------------- | | | | | Edward, Lionel, John of Gaunt, Edmund, Thomas, the Black Duke of Duke of Duke of Duke of Prince, Clarence, Lancaster, York, Gloucester, d. 1376 d. 1368 d. 1399 d. 1402 d. 1397 CHAPTER XVII. RICHARD II. AND THE SOCIAL REVOLUTION. 1377--1381. LEADING DATES Reign of Richard II., 1377-1399 Accession of Richard II 1377 The peasants' revolt 1381