The History of England in Three Volumes, Vol. I., Part B.: From Henry III. to Richard III. — David Hume — John Shaqi
The History of England in Three Volumes, Vol. I., Part B.: From Henry III. to Richard III.
David Hume · en
possibly have any other object than to pillage the provinces for present
gain; and as they lived at a distance, they would be little awed by
shame or remorse in employing every lucrative expedient which was
suggested to them. England being one of the most remote provinces
attached to the Romish hierarchy, as well as the most prone to
superstition, felt severely, during this reign, while its patience was
not yet fully exhausted, the influence of these causes, and we shall
often have occasion to touch cursorily upon such incidents. But we shall
not attempt to comprehend every transaction transmitted to us: and till
the end of the reign, when the events become more memorable, we shall
not always observe an exact chronological order in our narration.
* M. Paris, p. 623.
The earl of Pembroke, who at the time of John’s death, was mareschal
of England, was, by his office, at the head of the armies, and
consequently, during a state of civil wars and convulsions, at the head
of the government; and it happened, fortunately for the young monarch
and for the nation, that the power could not have been intrusted into
more able and more faithful hands. This nobleman, who had maintained
his loyalty unshaken to John during the lowest fortune of that monarch,
determined to support the authority of the infant prince; nor was he
dismayed at the number and violence of his enemies. Sensible that
Henry, agreeably to the prejudices of the times, would not be deemed
a sovereign till crowned and anointed by a churchman, he immediately
carried the young prince to Glocester, where the ceremony of coronation
was performed, in the presence of Gualo, the legate, and of a few
noblemen, by the bishops of Winchester and Bath.[*] As the concurrence
of the papal authority was requisite to support the tottering throne,
Henry was obliged to swear fealty to the pope, and renew that homage to
which his father had already subjected the kingdom:[**] and in order to
enlarge the authority of Pembroke, and to give him a more regular
and legal title to it, a general council of the barons was soon after
summoned at Bristol, where that nobleman was chosen protector of the
realm.
* M. Paris, p. 290. Hist Croyl. Cont. p. 474. W. Heming. p.
562. Privet, p. 168.
** M. Paris, p. 200.