II.

1218.

eb. 22.

CHAP. charter was again confirmed, but with additional alterations. A clause was added, ordering the immediate demolition of every castle built or rebuilt since the commencement of the civil war: and the chapters regarding the forests and warrens were withdrawn, to form a new instrument, called the charter of forests. By this all forests enclosed since the death of king Richard were thrown open: all outlawries for offences of the forest incurred within the same period, were reversed: the punishment for killing the king's venison was commuted into a heavy fine or a year's imprisonment: the courts of the foresters were regulated, unjust tolls abolished, and the right to cultivate and improve their own lands was confirmed to the holders of estates within the royal forests. At the same time, to prevent the diminution of the revenue, a law was passed, prohibiting the king's ministers, during his minority, to put the great seal to any charter or letter of confirmation or sale, or alienation, or gift in perpetuity, and declaring beforehand all such instruments invalid and of. no effect.12

the minis

ters.

Rivalry The late contest had generated a spirit of inbetween subordination, which bore with impatience the restraint of legitimate authority: and the barons of the two parties frequently betrayed the animosity which still rankled in their breasts, by

11

!! Brady, ii. App. No. 145.

12 Ibid. No. 146.

II.

1219.

deeds of outrage or messages of defiance. The CHAP. legate and marshal sought to heal these wounds by conciliation. Minor trangressions were prudently overlooked: but they visited with severe punishment those excesses, the neglect of which would have argued weakness or timidity on the part of the administration. By degrees tranquillity was restored; and in the autumn Gualo returned to Rome. He was succeeded by Pan- Nov. 22. dulf, who followed the example of his predecessor, and watched with solicitude over the interests of the young king. His presence was rendered the more necessary by the death of the earl marshal: after which the exercise of the royal authority was intrusted to Hubert de Burgh, the justiciary; the custody of the royal person to Peter des Roches, bishop of Winchester. With the former the reader is already acquainted: Des Roches was a Poitevin, who had enjoyed the confidence of John, and more than .once had been appointed by him guardian of the kingdom. These ministers were rivals: if the justiciary possessed a greater share of power, the bishop enjoyed more opportunities of cultivating the friendship of his pupil: and while the one sought the support of the native families, the other proclaimed himself the protector of the foreigners, whom the policy of John had settled in the island. The presence of Pandulf was a constant check on the ambition of these rivals by his letters and speeches he reproved

CHAP. their negligence, and stimulated their industry:

II.

1220. May 17.

1221.

13

and by his advice the justiciary and chancellor were made to swear, that during the minority they would not dispose of any of the great fiefs of the crown. He repaired to Wales, and restored peace on the borders: he met the king of Scots at York, and negotiated a peace between the two kingdoms: and by his letters and services he greatly contributed to prolong the truce between England and France. As doubts had been raised respecting the coronation at Bath, that ceremony was again performed with the accustomed solemnity by the archbishop, who, with the permission of Honorius, had returned to England: and the next year Alexander of Scotland, married at York, Joanna, the eldest of the two sisters of Henry, and did homage to his brother-in-law. At the same time one of the Scottish princesses, who had so long been in the custody of the English crown, was also married to Hubert: the other remained single: but a hint was given that Henry meant to associate her with himself on the throne.. Pandulf immediately returned to Rome.

13 For the services of Pandulf, see his letters in Rym. i. 235— 237. 240, 241. It appears that the treaty which William king of Scotland had been compelled to make with John, was considered so burthensome or so disgraceful, that Alexander had applied to the pontiff, to examine it and pronounce according to law, whether it were binding or not. Honorius referred the matter to Pandulf. Ibid. 235. It is singular that the substance at least of that treaty has not been preserved. We are also ignorant of Pandulf's decision.

II.

Henry de

clared of

During the contest between John and the CHAP. barons that prince had lavishly distributed the crown lands among his partisans as well foreigners as natives: and those, who had the com- age. mand of the royal castles at his death, pertinaciously refused to give them up to the government, alleging that they kept them in trust for the king during his minority. To wrest these fortresses from the hands of the powerful vassals who held them, was an important but difficult object. Honorius had instructed Pandulf to insist that no individual should hold at the same time the custody of more than two of the royal castles he then ordered the bishop and justiciary to demand from the holders all escheats and wardships; and at last solemnly declared, at the request and with the assent of the great council, that Henry was of sufficient age to have the free disposal of his lands, castles, and wards, though not to plead or be impleaded in courts of justice. Hubert immediately in the king's name demanded the surrender of the wards and castles and the earls of Chester and Albemarle in return made a fruitless attempt to surprise the city of London. Their conduct was arraigned by Hubert, and excused by Des Roches. The discontented barons determined to keep the Christmas at Northampton: but Henry proceeded to that town with the archbishop and bishops, and so numerous a train of earls and knights, that his opponents were intimidated,

1223. Dec. 25.

CHAP. solicited his pardon, and abandoned all their pretensions.14

II.

Submis. sion and exile of Fawkes.

Another event followed, which established the authority of Hubert, and induced his rival to banish himself from the island, under the pretence of making a pilgrimage to the holy land. Among the foreigners enriched by John was a ferocious and sanguinary ruffian, named Fawkes, who held the castle of Bedford by the donation of that monarch. At the assizes at Dunstable he had been amerced for several misdemeanours in the sum of three thousand pounds but instead of submitting to the sentence, he waylaid the judges at their departure, and seizing one of them, Henry de Braibrock, confined him in the dungeon of the castle. Hubert willingly grasped at the opportunity of wreaking his vengeance on a partisan of the bishop of Winchester: and the king was induced to invest in person the fortress of this June 16. audacious rebel. Two towers of wood were

1224. June 5.

raised to such a height, as to give the archers a full view of the interior of the castle; seven military engines battered the walls with large stones from morning till evening; and a machine, termed a cat, covered the sappers in their attempts to undermine the foundations.

14 Dunst. 136-138. Rym. i. 240. 254. 263. The reason given to the pontiff by the council was, that " the prudence and discre❝tion of Henry was such as to supply the want of age." Paris Addit. No. 1.