The Comic History of EnglandÀ Beckett, Gilbert Abbott
History
The Comic History of England
À Beckett, Gilbert Abbott
Great Britain -- History -- Humor
The arbitrary conduct of the barons had somewhat disgusted the people,
many of whom had discovered that one tyrant was not quite so bad as
four-and-twenty. London declared for Henry, and Leicester ran away; but
the vacillating cockneys soon declared for Leicester, which brought him
back again. The king, who had been at such pains to secure the Tower,
had the mortification to find it secured him, for he was safely locked
up in it. Prince Edward, his son, flew to Windsor Castle, and the queen,
his mother, was going down to the stairs at London Bridge to take a boat
to follow him. She had shouted "Hi!" to the jack-in-the-water, and was
stepping into a wherry, when she was recognised by the mob, who called
after her as a witch, and pelted her with mud and missiles. The Lord
Mayor, who happened to be passing, gallantly offered her his arm, walked
with her to St. Paul's, and left her in the care of the doorkeeper. This
anecdote is circumstantially given by all the chroniclers, among whom we
need only mention Wykes, West, and Trivet--the correctness of the last
being so remarkable that "right as a Trivet" is to this day a proverb.
After a prodigious quantity of quarrelling between Henry and Son on one
part, and Leicester and Co. on the other, the matters in dispute were
referred to the arbitration of the French king, Louis the Ninth, who
made an award in favour of Henry, which the barons of course refused to
abide by. A civil war broke out with great fury, in which the Jews
were victimised by both parties, though opposed to neither. They were
slaughtered by the barons for being attached to the king, and were also
slaughtered by the king's party for being attached to the barons.
If they were attached to either it certainly was one of the most
unfortunate attachments we ever heard of, and the strength of the
attachment must have been great which could have survived such horrible
treatment.
On the 14th of May, 1264, the king's party and that of Leicester met in
battle. His majesty was at Lewes, in a hollow, where he thought himself
deep enough to have got into a position of safety. The earl was upon
the Downs, which Wykes calls a "downy move," for the spot was raised and
commanded a view of the movements of the sovereign.
Leicester commenced the attack, which soon became general. Prince Edward
charged the London militia, who could have charged pretty well in return
if they been behind their counters; but they had no idea of selling
their lives at any price. They accordingly fled in all directions and
the prince paid them off all he owed them for the manner in which they
had served his mother. Leicester concentrated his force upon the king to
whom he gave personally a sound thrashing.
Having cudgelle the king to his heart's content, he took him into
custody. Prince Edward was seized, but the latter escaped on the
Thursday in Whitsun week, 1265, and raised a powerful force, with which
he marched to Evesham against his father's enemies.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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